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Notes From Hairenik
May 29, 2005
Armenians will never learn
On May 27 Charles Aznavour appeared at the Cinema Moscow to sign copies of his memoirs newly translated in Armenian, with a limited printing of 5,000. The event was supposed to have been organized by the youth organization of the Republican Party (headed by Prime Minister Antranig Markarian). Unfortunately, and as usual at Armenian gatherings, nothing was properly organized.

An eyewitness account by Karen, who was there trying to photograph the event for ArmenPress, attests to the fact that there was no attempt of any kind to encourage people to wait in an orderly line. Instead there was a mad rush to the table where Aznavour sat to comfortably sign copies. He was surrounded by people all shoving books in his face in the hopes that he would pick their own to sign. After 10 minutes of chaos, Aznavour was briskly escorted from the theater to the adjacent Yerevan Hotel where he stays whenever in town. Television cameras were there to document the madness, showing images of people pushing each other out of the way and even purchasing books from one another so that they will have their own copy signed.

One man outside the theater after Aznavour had left told a television news reporter that “I must be one of about three people attending this event who has actually read this book. Most of these people here have no idea about who Aznavour really is.” This statement is true. Many Armenians respect Aznavour because he is a famous member of their nation and has a lot of money to donate to or spend in Armenia. Very few understand his music or know much about his career. And if word ever got out that his 1972 controversial hit “Comme Ils Disent” is about a homosexual transvestite, I am sure people would start scorning him. But you never know, perhaps they would simply shrug it off, quietly stating, “vochinch.”

On May 28 the Pan-Armenian Circle Dance was held. The plans for the event were ambitious enough—assemble thousands of Armenians to form a circle at the base of Mount Aragats—Armenia’s highest mountain—to dance for 15 minutes. And it was an excellent premise to symbolize unity among all Armenians worldwide. Armenians from all corners of the country were trucked in on buses, minibuses, taxis, private cars, and even helicopters (President Kocharian’s mode of transport)—over 200,000 people attended according to many reports.

Once again, the result was chaos, as relayed by Karen again present to photograph the event. People paid little regard to constant pleas for assembling to dance, even from the President himself. Bullhorns to direct the masses failed to work. Instead of dancing in a single line, and in unison, participants in some areas—at least in the area televised where President Kocharian and Defence Minister Serge Sargsyan danced together—chose to dance in lines of their own formation, thus tens of rows were formed, one in front of the other. Yet aerial views from a helicopter passing along a two or three mile stretch reveal indeed that people were assembling to form a line dance, but close examination of the footage as well as still shots reveal that there was never any attempt to form a continuous, unbroken circle. Gaps appeared everywhere, as people assembled in individual preconceived groups rather than arriving independently to simply join in. Thus the concept of displaying the unity of all Armenians backfired. As of this writing no reports have confirmed that the circle around Aragats was ever closed completely, as was the original goal.

May 28 marks the anniversary of the first Armenian republic’s independence, when a decisive battle between the Armenians and a weary regimen of Turkish military troops at Sardarabad ended in the Armenians’ favor, resulting in the creation of a nation state that survived for over two years. Yet a random television news poll of people on the street revealed that when asked, many did not know which independence the date marks. Many only knew that May 28 marked a holiday, without understanding which one.

To top of the day of events, the main mode of public transport that by far most Yerevan citizens depend on was completely unavailable for the entire day. All city minivan bus routes—numbering in the hundreds—were used instead to transport people to areas surrounding Aragats. Thus people stood for hours at their regular bus stops eagerly anticipating their minibus to come by, while no one from the Yerevan municipal authorities even bothered to inform them to seek alternate modes of transportation.

What should be shocking to me regarding the arrogant ignorance of the Armenian nation no longer evokes surprise. Perhaps I, too, should finally give in to the fact that Armenians in the end will never understand the world outside of their own, will never learn from past historic mistakes, and will never be able to anticipate what lies in wake for their future. Maybe it’s time to start shrugging things off by sighing, “Vochinch.”

Although I won’t do that, I do know that with no end in sight, “vochinch” continues. But when will ever it stop?

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Posted by Christian Garbis at 4:02 PM.
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May 28, 2005
Pizza Anyone?
Tourist season is fast approaching, along with (hopefully) throngs of people scouring the streets of Yerevan for something to eat other than barbeque or shawerma. Chefs here attempt to tackle on favorite delicacies of the West such as the staple signature sandwich, the hamburger, which here is literally that—a round, not so thick piece of ham pan-fried or boiled served on a dry roll, usually too large for the meat. Then there is pizza, which can be found at many dining establishments but nearly always resembles and tastes like anything but.

Before I go on, let me define "pizza" as what I have come to know and love. In America, especially Boston which must be one of the pizza Meccas of the world with a pizza shop nearly on every other corner throughout suburbia, pizza is usually a hand-tossed slab of dough rolled out into a round, flat mass, then topped with tomato sauce, cheese, and optional various vegetable or meat toppings as determined by personal taste. I am excluding designer pizzas in my definition as well as genuine Italian pizza, which is tasty but in no way reminiscent of its American counterpart. In Yerevan, pizza is usually a miserable attempt to resemble what many of us know it to be—a dried-out crust usually prefabricated, topped with sub-mediocre cheese usually unsuitable for cooking, and a strange red base faintly reminiscent of having a tomato origin. The result is less than pleasurable and leaves the eater with huge expectations for a taste sampling of his native home hugely disappointed.

But for all of you who are planning to visit Armenia in the coming summer and autumn months, I have found two places that do make an excellent pizza, both of which are on the increasingly ritzy Abovyan Street in central Yerevan.

One place that I have often frequented when pining for pizza is called Diamond and is located at the very end of Abovyan as you enter Republic Square on the right side, just next to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Firstly, the dough is fresh, and not rolled out too thin. They offer nearly 20 selections, with each one featuring a variety of interesting topping combinations from fresh vegetables to the dried meats "sujukh" and "basterma" to various kinds of Russian sausage. The cheese resembles or is mozzarella, and the tomato base seems to be a tangy sauce with hints of oregano and other spices. Pizza is most always served in Armenia regardless of where it is eaten with ketchup, spicy or sweet, which you will find here as well. Two sizes are offered with a 200 dram difference or so between them.

Another place further up on Aboyvan north of the Sayat Nova intersection that I have walked by dozens of times since my first visit five years ago but never entered until a week ago at the suggestion of a friend is called California Pizza (nothing to do with the US restaurant chain). The pizza here is better I believe, with the same quality of ingredients you will find at Diamond but overall tastier. We tried the "Armenian" pizza, featuring basterma and chopped green peppers, and the "Chicken", which has hunks of chicken breast and mushrooms. Both have a tomato sauce base and are generously applied with mozzarella cheese.

In terms of atmosphere, California Pizza resembles the pizza shops I have often frequented in Boston, sparsely decorated with framed posters of famous bridges and US cities, ordinary tables and chairs, and mural-covered walls. Diamond on the other hand offers plenty of natural lighting, although the predominant color scheme is a dark lime green with matching curtains, velour I believe. If you get there around 6:00 pm or so you'll be treated with live music, usually consisting of a guy sitting at a synthesizer/drum machine and singing Armenian popular favorites rather badly, with another guy feebly playing saxophone.

In case you are wondering about "Armenian pizza", referred to as lahmejune in the west or lahmajo here, in Yerevan there are such stores abound. Each place has its own offering that differs in taste and quality from the next. There is a 24-hour lahmejune chain store, where the mini ground meat and veggie paper-thin pizza is made to order. I have seen such stores at the corner of Moscovyan and Aboyan Streets, Dikran the Great Street when passing by the "Gumi" open market, and at Friendship Square, but there are many more.

Another great spot is located on Tumanian Street adjacent from Opera Park and on the fringes of the Northern Boulevard currently being constructed is called Our Neighborhood and offers "Aintab-style" lahmejune. The portions are rather large and very tasty but the meat fatty, served with wedges of lemon. Again lahmejune is cooked to order here as well but in the basement kitchen—the lahmejune is hoisted upstairs on an ingenious vertical conveyor belt to be toasted to perfection. They offer both the carbonated and non-carbonated yoghurt drink tan as well as a tan drink containing chopped cucumbers and dill. Sarkis the owner is the son of Genocide survivors who came to Yerevan, and thus he speaks perfect Western Armenian as well as Eastern. He is very accommodating to Diasporan Armenians.

There’s one more very good no-name Lahmejune bakery on Pushkin Street near the Mashdots intersection, owned by an Armenian from Beirut, that also offers “zataar” and “tahine” breads, both of which are hard to come by.

I will write about other interesting places for hungry tourists to visit, located both in and outside Yerevan in the coming weeks. And please leave comments about places I have missed.

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Posted by Christian Garbis at 1:30 PM.
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May 11, 2005
MDP Plays Live

MDP
Originally uploaded by Notes From Hairenik.

Singer/songwriter Edward Abrahamian on keyboards.

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Posted by Christian Garbis at 7:56 PM.
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MDP Plays Live in Yerevan
On May 9 I had the privilege of seeing Rock group MDP (which stands for Manic Depressive Psychosis) perform at the Avant-Garde Folk and Jazz Music Club located on Pushkin Street near Sakharov Square. The band was formed in 1990 by four students attending Yerevan State University. Since 1993 they have made nine recordings, including a live concert released on DVD. For a few years the band was based in Russia, where they recorded and performed, but now they are living in Yerevan once again. Their sound has been described by one British music critic as being “unexpected rock,” yet falling under the “prog-rock” category.

Essentially it is true that the listener, especially the novice, of this band’s music will not know what is to come during a particular song as the melody is unpredictable. Songs do not really have any given structure nor are they based on a basic blues riff. Instead the songs’ complex harmonies and ever-changing tempos are tinged with improvisation, which adds to the thrill of the music. Their sound is definitely hard, but cannot be compared with what can be heard from “System of a Down”—in fact I would argue that MDP is a much better band musically speaking. In order to appeal to a wider audience, the songs are all written and sung in English.

Naturally, given the bands national identity some songs have a slight Armenian melodic influence, where during one of the songs both bassist and guitarist played simultaneously a melody resembling perhaps a zurna solo performance. The band members are Edward Abrahamian on vocals and keyboards, Henry Grigorian on guitar, Vardan Grigorian on bass, and Mesrop Gyulnazarian, who is an exceptional drummer.

It is impressive and refreshing to see an alternative youth crowd that is anti-Rabiz and more “street-punk” in appearance, even in manner. For some reason rock music in general is not widely embraced here, and rock bands in Armenia enjoy only cult status. But the kids in the audience love to rock, and rock they did during an excellent, thrilling 90-minute performance.

The band’s Web site can be found at: http://www.mdp.am/

An interview with Edward Abrahamian and band manager Arman Padaryan conducted by photojournalist Onnik Krikorian can be found here.

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Posted by Christian Garbis at 7:48 PM.
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The Community of Hankavan
May 11, 2005--About 10 days ago I went for a ride with friends Karen and Onnik to a remote village called Hankavan, about 30 kilometers northwest of the resort town of Tsaghkadzor in the Kotayk region. The village was predominantly inhabited by ethnic Greeks with the exception of a few Azeri families who moved east to Azerbaijan towards the beginning of the Karabagh war. There were once about 80 families living in the village, and of that number only about four remain, leaving a total of 12 people. The place is nearly deserted, and there are no prospects at all for rehabilitation. Government assistance does not reach this village. Although there is electricity no phone lines have been installed, thus residents are forced to go to the neighboring village to call out. There is also no mail service provided.

In the Soviet era Hankavan served as a resort town offering natural spring bathing spas and lodging. Those rest complexes have closed long ago, and thus there is virtually no economy in that area. Village residents over 60 years old live on modest pensions of 6000 dram per month—about $13. Yet some cannot earn a living—one man we met suffers from mental illness, yet he cannot claim medical benefits or even find work and counts on his mother’s pension. People speak to one another predominantly in Greek, although they cannot read or write in their mother tongue—they are also fluent in Russian and Armenian. And unfortunately, virtually no youth remain.

The family we met and spoke with is able to leave the village to visit their four children, all of whom live in Greece and are married. The mother, now in her seventies, has gone about 5 times with the money her children sent, and she and her husband plan to move to Greece just as soon as their children are able to obtain citizenship there.

“We know there is no future for us here, and that the only thing to do is to be with our children and grandchildren in Greece. We’ll leave soon enough,” the father told me, who is now 85 years old, but looks 15 years younger.

The two of them live off the small land plot they have, which lies adjacent to a narrow river that flows directly through the town. They plant vegetables and also keep cows and chickens, thus there is a steady supply of fresh milk, yogurt, and eggs. But they have few luxuries—they splurged on chocolates and are able to occasionally tune in two Armenian stations on their Soviet-design TV. Aside from receiving visits from a close neighbor, they are lonely.

Around this area at one time there were several youth camps operating, but since the collapse of the Soviet Union most of them seemed to have closed down for good. One camp we visited was completely deserted, with buildings gutted of furnishings and windows removed. In most areas throughout Armenia one can find half-constructed buildings that have been ransacked, with building supplies stolen. In some places the concrete walls of empty buildings have been destroyed in order to extract the iron support rods and beams. Desperate citizens will do anything they can to survive, although it leaves destruction in their wake.

But in Hankavan little seems to have changed at first glance. Houses have simply been closed up, and no one dares to enter or destroy them. There is a strange feeling of activity, a sense of bustling inhabitance, yet there is nothing to show for it. The intact, yet empty houses are a façade for a community long lost to the passage of time and the pain of disregard.

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Posted by Christian Garbis at 7:35 PM.
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